AHAVAT YISROEL

Rabbi Akiva (one of the great sages of the Talmud) explained that love of a fellow Jew is “one of the leading principles of the Torah”. A campaign for Ahavat Yisrael means that we make an effort that our thought, speech and actions be permeated with a real concern and sensitivity for the wellbeing of our fellow Jews. The Baal Shem Tov taught that one should have Ahavat Yisrael even for a Jew one has never seen in one’s life. The rationale behind this is explained in Ch.32 of Tanya (See the book To Love a Fellow Jew – SIE Publications).

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ESSAYS

Maamar Heichaltzu Love Your Fellow as Yourself
Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn of Lubavitch
Although "Love your fellow as yourself" is, as Rabbi Akiva taught, the great underlying principle of the Torah, actually achieving this love is a profound challenge for most people. Human personality is instead, often given to baseless hatred. This ...
The Exodus, Part II Love According to the Rebbe
By Yanki Tauber
What if someone said to you, "I love you, but I don't like your children"? You'd probably say: "You don't know anything about who and what I am, and you don't know what love is, either!"

 

Because We're All One
By Tzvi Freeman
If we are a religion, then some Jews are more Jewish, others less Jewish and many not at all. Perhaps nothing has been as detrimental to the Jewish People as the modern idea that Judaism is a religion

Tanya Chapter 32 Tanya Chapter 32
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi's "Tanya" is the "bible of Chassidism" — the fundamental work upon which dozens of books and thousands of maamarim (discourses) by seven generations of Chabad Rebbes are based. The "heart" of Tanya is its 32nd chapter which ...

The Outdoor Altar
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson
Spiritual gluttony is no less selfish than the physical sort, and one who focuses solely on self-realization and self-fulfillment — be it in the most positive and lofty sense — is turning his Holy Temple inside out

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STORIES

 

The Ladder The Ladder
By Eliezer Steinman
Their leader spotted a beautiful bird perched atop a tall tree. "Come," he said to his disciples, "I wish to capture this bird, so that we may delight in her song and gaze upon her wondrous hues"
The Blow The Blow
The Rebbe feels the pain of an anguished father
 
Prelude to a Sermon Prelude to a Sermon
By Yrachmiel Tilles
"He's qualified to pass judgement," said the Chassidic master. "He has a personal interest in the matter. He is preaching only because he is in need of funds to marry off his daughter..."
The Blanket The Blanket
Howard Schultz
Then he asked, "Who can tell me what the lesson of the Holocaust is?"

The Meaning of Love

The Meaning of Love
From the Chassidic Masters
"I learned the meaning of love from a drunk," said Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. "I once passed two drunks drinking in a gutter and overheard a conversation between them..."

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MULTIMEDIA

 

LIVING TORAH

Love, Honor, Respect
Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, The Lubavitcher Rebbe
The timeless lessons to be derived from Rabbi Akiva and the failings of his righteous students.

                

Personality Clash Personality Clash
Produced by Dovid Taub
When Jono's antics go too far, Itche starts to get nervous. Hilarity ensues

LIVING TORAH

Aharon: Lover of Jews
Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, The Lubavitcher Rebbe
Seven days of national spiritual preparedness, fulfilling G‑d’s explicit instructions, could not elicit from Above what a lover of His people could.